I really appreciate how you guys are so ready to blame yourselves for mistakes when appropriate. It really shows character. I imagine you will become very successful.
Whatever mini knife I make will have a blade just under 3". Not too big, not too small. And week 42 will be posted on tues sept 11th, sorry it's taken so long!
That's what the flipper lever is for, it's a finger saver for when the blade closes. You're gonna love it, the green looks better in actual light, not cave lighting.
It's all about the detent tension, not so much the friction of movement. With enough lockbar spring pressure the knife is hard to just swing open. But with a lighter lockbar, it is possible to swing it open with the proper technique. That's the cool thing about flippers, you want the closed position to be very strong and crisp, keeping the blade closed nicely.
Yup, and they're WAY rounder too. Steel balls are usually rated as G25. These are G5! I bet they'll make a mildly noticeable difference when used as bearings, can't wait to try it.
Hi John, nice vid... i got a little used to the super lightness off the knife, and i really like it , i don't even feel it in my pocket... anyways.. detent balls easy way off removing theme is dunking the scale in iron chloride and let it eat the ball away, take a night. will not harm the Ti , so even on detent ball holes that don't run through you can get a ball out, gr, martin
Originally because I didn't, and still don't, have a serious grinder. And I have an awesome mill, sooooooo. haha. I've really grown fond of the machined look. Eventually we'll build a sweet grinder and start grinding some blades, but I think this model will always be machined.
First run was done with love, great hope and expectation. Second run will receive experimentation and built with more confidence. I prefer love and expectation.
He's got some 600ish belts for the 1x30 but does most of the smoothing using our scotchbrite wheel, then if he's feeling saucy he uses a 1x30 leather strop with some compound to polish the spine. For 600-1500 I was referring to loose sheets of sandpaper, as shown around 24:55. They're not mirror polished, but have a very fine "hand rubbed" scratch pattern.
Ha! Thanks for putting my theory to the test. I just ordered 50 of those 1/16 ceramic balls from tool supply. I'm in the process of replacing the IKBS bearings and detent ball on one of my knives. The guy I spoke to said they were slicker than regular hardened steel bearings
Thanks for the tip Martin! Too bad it wouldn't work on a ceramic ball in a blind hole, but that's why I like drilling through so I can easily punch it out from the back.
Hey John, Great video!! Probably because I am the lucky recepiant of #16!! Now I am even more excited about getting the Norseman. Just hope I don't cut my finger off when it closes.lol The green looks fantastic!
Yup, for my knives the bearings ride on the milled pockets in the blade, not on the flats. For yours, with bushings, the flats need to be pretty flat and square, and the higher the surface polish the better! The smoother the arc for the detent ball, the smoother it will feel. Erik sands these to 1500. Check HarborFreight for cheap digital calipers, I've got two 6" ones, but for this kind of work you only really need 3-4" ones. Don't pay more than $25, I get 'em for free with some orders!
Yeah I can't believe that helicoils never entered my mind when making these plates. I've never used them so I guess that's why. One day I'll definitely try them out.
At this point they have documented right around 260 hours of labor to produce a dozen knives, I doubt profits are anything that could be called profits. It takes a long time to build up to what most would consider a 'profit'. This channel and the efforts are building a brand based on nothing but quality. Like a fine bourbon quality will be present long before profit is present. Thank you for sharing the challenges presented and the frustrations Brothers Grimsmo!
Yep, they're harder and more wear resistant. If anything they'll wear a groove into the blade before they wear out themselves. The price of the knives will stay the same for now, even though I should increase it because of the extra awesomeness.
Ha. We'll see. Blades are almost done, just need a wee bit of engraving, lockup and detent work, then sharpen. Just got handles back from waterjet today, machine over the weekend, tumble on monday, then assemble and tweak! Busy busy.
Yeah I've been thinking of a way to hold them better, but this was is the quickest way without wasting tons of time making a fancy holder. Also, the head gets fully machined in a different operation, so any bite marks would be removed.
Go to Lee Valley and pick up some 3M Trizact belts, great belts for working with steel and they dont over heat the blades! I wish I could see you guys at the gathering- next year brother, next year!
Thanks for the feedback! No offense taken, I can see that the gopro quality isn't as good (especially when the lighting sucks), but I thought I'd throw them in anyways. The feedback is good. I'm astonished you didn't mention the horrible out of focus food clip, my dad shot that with his DSLR on manual focus, and must not have been wearing his glasses haha. I almost didn't put that in. I like how we can mount the gopro on moving machine parts, just gotta make a stand for my other camera.
Yup, although I'm an idiot and bought our tickets a few days apart, prices changed, so basically we're taking different flights at pretty much the same times. Durrr, shoulda got them at the same time.
gotta remember that a 2x72 takes up so much room in terms of clearance for the motor, pulleys etc. its brutal if you work out of your garage (like you and me)! ;D
Designing a new knife? awesome! (not that i dont like the norseman, but i liked your old videos, where you went through the design-attemps on the norseman very uch.
I didn't wanna sound like an ass! LOL I was going to mention that clip but didn't because I know why you put it in there... right at the end it comes into focus with the most amazing culinary shot of the vibrant pepper color. Right at the end you can see the quality really come through and the scene ends gorgeous. :)
Huh now I'm kinda happy I didn't place a order from the first run. Seems like the next batch may be a little bit smoother. Nothing at all wrong with the first batch tho!! Great knives guys!!
Hey john does grinding the flats effect your opening? I assume not because you have that pocket milled out. I was wondering because I want to get a consistent thickness on my blades so that they get the perfect pivot opening friction. I really need a digital caliper.
Someone on the spyderco forums modded his manix with a ceramic bearing in the BBL. He used the white one though. There's some good info in that thread.
I have a GoPro and they have their place (I haven't figured out how to use mine yet) but I will agree that they are capable of fine quality, I don't think any attributes show through when they are not stationary though. As much as wearing one sounds cool and does document, I think the quality standards it lowers your footage to is not worth it. They do shoot fabulous from a fixed point such as how John mentioned mounting it to a stand, I highly recommend mounting it. Your settings are good. :)
Hi Erik and John, I have heard it said many times before not specifically on your knives, when there is a problem, the 'computer' is at fault. That to me is a cop-out, because you have shown it was never the PC that was at fault, in the other cases, and let me make this clear, never with reference to your knives, the computer is why your knives are what they are. The only thing that is not down to a PC tooled Machine is the Sharpening by Erik. Great stuff guys. I know you have lots of fans!
Are ceramic detent balls more durable than steel detent balls? And now that you'll be using ceramic detent balls will that change the price of the knives? Would consider ceramic blades? Ok, enough questions.
The video was great, please don't think I am judging content. I only meant the above from the video's technical aspects. It looked like a bad skate video. I would hate to see your quality start slipping at this point. Please keep up the great work and good luck with your 2 week window. Great idea bringing blades to the show!
guess i'll never get tired of watching you guys:D I like the pitting btw:) guess a matte knife would be cool as well:) one question: would you be able to make a blade without those "stairs"? looking forward to your next knifedesign!:)
Any tips on how we can utilize the GoPro and still get some great shots? It has 5 different video settings that change the quality and video too. The camera was set to 16:9 HD widescreen. We've just had the thing lying around for a while and havent used it to make skate videos in a while :-)
I am loving the Norseman. Keep up the good work. Seems hard on your bits to cnc all of the blades. Wouldint it be better to grind on a jig. Beside the awesome look, why have you chosen this method?
John, dig the knives and the videos. Question, while I understand your support for Tormach but in watching it is apparent you have out grown the 1100. That being said, would you have opted for a bigger machine? Second what software are you designing in?
looks like the pivit screws are a real pain in the a##.. Isnt there a way you could devise a collete[Bad Spelling] system or suvio{bad sp.] to hold them possibly in a repetable position? {as i understand a "suvio" is used for fireing odd shaped objects from a cannon{Mythbusters chicken through a airplain windshield episode}} the reason im thinking of this is because your gripping the head of the pivit screw} Keep up the great vids.
I haven't heard the new one yet, their albums seem to have just gotten worse over time in my mind. But i havent given the later albums much chance, i just always have hybrid theory and meteora and love them.
Alright, build one...work out all the kinks and then build me one? deal? deal. ;D How is the second batch of blades workin' out brother? Will you be ready for the gathering?
John & Eric please don't take offense, the GoPro clips are terrible. Speaking strictly from an A/V technical standpoint these clips have severely brought down the quality. Frames were dropped, it has focus issues, it's depth of field is too shallow and it is far too wide. I love your every video and these scenes just made it look way too amateurish. Your quality, as I told you before, has always been stellar. Please don't damage your quality with that thing if you have another camera available.
Thanks for the feedback! No offense taken, I can see that the gopro quality isn't as good (especially when the lighting sucks), but I thought I'd throw them in anyways. The feedback is good. I'm astonished you didn't mention the horrible out of focus food clip, my dad shot that with his dslr on manual focus, and must not have been wearing his glasses haha. I almost didn't put that in. I like how we can mount the gopro on moving machine parts, just gotta make a stand for my other camera.
I really appreciate how you guys are so ready to blame yourselves for mistakes when appropriate. It really shows character. I imagine you will become very successful.
Very cool man, I am so impressed with the standard of quality you guys are pushing out- keep it going and see you after the gathering!
Wow glad I got in on the second run! That ceramic detent is going to be something else! Jack
Awesome stuff. Eric is hilarious. Like a kid in a candy shop flipping with the new ceramic ball...
What a huge improvement those ceramic detents are!
Whatever mini knife I make will have a blade just under 3". Not too big, not too small. And week 42 will be posted on tues sept 11th, sorry it's taken so long!
That's what the flipper lever is for, it's a finger saver for when the blade closes. You're gonna love it, the green looks better in actual light, not cave lighting.
Ohh wow, I've never used the trim feature, I'll have to start doing that! Looks like it'll save a few steps very often. Thanks for the tip!
It's all about the detent tension, not so much the friction of movement. With enough lockbar spring pressure the knife is hard to just swing open. But with a lighter lockbar, it is possible to swing it open with the proper technique. That's the cool thing about flippers, you want the closed position to be very strong and crisp, keeping the blade closed nicely.
Awesome vid as usual & the ceramic ball revelation...very cool.
Glad I got my order in. Can't wait to see it.
He showed it to me in person at Blade Show, VERY cool. But I'm super happy with the ceramic balls.
Yup, and they're WAY rounder too. Steel balls are usually rated as G25. These are G5! I bet they'll make a mildly noticeable difference when used as bearings, can't wait to try it.
Hi John, nice vid... i got a little used to the super lightness off the knife, and i really like it , i don't even feel it in my pocket... anyways.. detent balls easy way off removing theme is dunking the scale in iron chloride and let it eat the ball away, take a night. will not harm the Ti , so even on detent ball holes that don't run through you can get a ball out, gr, martin
Thanks! Looking forward to the Mini Norseman and week 42!
Originally because I didn't, and still don't, have a serious grinder. And I have an awesome mill, sooooooo. haha. I've really grown fond of the machined look. Eventually we'll build a sweet grinder and start grinding some blades, but I think this model will always be machined.
First run was done with love, great hope and expectation. Second run will receive experimentation and built with more confidence. I prefer love and expectation.
He's got some 600ish belts for the 1x30 but does most of the smoothing using our scotchbrite wheel, then if he's feeling saucy he uses a 1x30 leather strop with some compound to polish the spine. For 600-1500 I was referring to loose sheets of sandpaper, as shown around 24:55. They're not mirror polished, but have a very fine "hand rubbed" scratch pattern.
Ha! Thanks for putting my theory to the test. I just ordered 50 of those 1/16 ceramic balls from tool supply. I'm in the process of replacing the IKBS bearings and detent ball on one of my knives. The guy I spoke to said they were slicker than regular hardened steel bearings
Thanks for the tip Martin! Too bad it wouldn't work on a ceramic ball in a blind hole, but that's why I like drilling through so I can easily punch it out from the back.
Cool idea! I'll check that out, thanks.
Hey John, Great video!! Probably because I am the lucky recepiant of #16!! Now I am even more excited about getting the Norseman. Just hope I don't cut my finger off when it closes.lol
The green looks fantastic!
Yeah custom engravings are definitely an option for a small additional fee. I'm planning a few already, as per the customer's request.
Yup, for my knives the bearings ride on the milled pockets in the blade, not on the flats. For yours, with bushings, the flats need to be pretty flat and square, and the higher the surface polish the better! The smoother the arc for the detent ball, the smoother it will feel. Erik sands these to 1500. Check HarborFreight for cheap digital calipers, I've got two 6" ones, but for this kind of work you only really need 3-4" ones. Don't pay more than $25, I get 'em for free with some orders!
Nope, the milling marks are here to stay, I love 'em. For other knife models we'll probably grind the edges like everyone else, but not for a while.
Yeah I can't believe that helicoils never entered my mind when making these plates. I've never used them so I guess that's why. One day I'll definitely try them out.
At this point they have documented right around 260 hours of labor to produce a dozen knives, I doubt profits are anything that could be called profits. It takes a long time to build up to what most would consider a 'profit'. This channel and the efforts are building a brand based on nothing but quality. Like a fine bourbon quality will be present long before profit is present. Thank you for sharing the challenges presented and the frustrations Brothers Grimsmo!
Yep, they're harder and more wear resistant. If anything they'll wear a groove into the blade before they wear out themselves. The price of the knives will stay the same for now, even though I should increase it because of the extra awesomeness.
Ha. We'll see.
Blades are almost done, just need a wee bit of engraving, lockup and detent work, then sharpen. Just got handles back from waterjet today, machine over the weekend, tumble on monday, then assemble and tweak! Busy busy.
We've got a few worn out trizact belts in high grits, gotta get a lot more! Can't wait to build a 2x72, hopefully in september.
That was pretty much the entire concept behind the CAD drawing section of the video. Just never got around to machining it yet.
i just dont believe that it can be that smooth, you must send me one to prove this epic detent discovery :-D lol.
Yeah I've been thinking of a way to hold them better, but this was is the quickest way without wasting tons of time making a fancy holder. Also, the head gets fully machined in a different operation, so any bite marks would be removed.
I am, sorta. I'm doing one in the next batch or two that will be set up for left pocket carry, but still have a righty lockbar.
The first batch is awesome, no doubt, but pretty much every batch will get a teeny bit better as we refine our techniques.
Cool you guys are gonna go to Vegas. I hope you get to fly :-)
They're all $450. #16 has been sold, shipped and received, the owner LOVES it! I miss it already.
wow 1500, I have up to 400 belts and a buffing but I need to get higher grits to get a mirror polish. Thanks for the info.
Nope, keep it small, just Erik and I. Farm out all the stuff that we can't do, or don't want to do, but always try to do as much as we can ourselves.
Go to Lee Valley and pick up some 3M Trizact belts, great belts for working with steel and they dont over heat the blades! I wish I could see you guys at the gathering- next year brother, next year!
Thanks for the feedback! No offense taken, I can see that the gopro quality isn't as good (especially when the lighting sucks), but I thought I'd throw them in anyways. The feedback is good. I'm astonished you didn't mention the horrible out of focus food clip, my dad shot that with his DSLR on manual focus, and must not have been wearing his glasses haha. I almost didn't put that in. I like how we can mount the gopro on moving machine parts, just gotta make a stand for my other camera.
Most people still use steel or stainless ones, so they obviously work just fine. However ceramic ones are noticeably better, at least on my knives.
Yup, although I'm an idiot and bought our tickets a few days apart, prices changed, so basically we're taking different flights at pretty much the same times. Durrr, shoulda got them at the same time.
yup, meant to ask quite generally. and I like them as well as they're different to what's out there, just wanted to know.
hard work=success
Heh, nevermind, that's what you ended up doing. Guess Eric is the genius of the bros.
Ahh, you're referring to our upcoming ETR knife...... It won't be next, but probably third.
gotta remember that a 2x72 takes up so much room in terms of clearance for the motor, pulleys etc. its brutal if you work out of your garage (like you and me)! ;D
Hallelujah! I would like to buy one.
You're gonna need to be fast with those ceramic detent balls in! I love the smoothness but I'm foreseeing some sliced fingers in the future!
Designing a new knife? awesome!
(not that i dont like the norseman, but i liked your old videos, where you went through the design-attemps on the norseman very uch.
I didn't wanna sound like an ass! LOL I was going to mention that clip but didn't because I know why you put it in there... right at the end it comes into focus with the most amazing culinary shot of the vibrant pepper color. Right at the end you can see the quality really come through and the scene ends gorgeous. :)
Huh now I'm kinda happy I didn't place a order from the first run. Seems like the next batch may be a little bit smoother. Nothing at all wrong with the first batch tho!! Great knives guys!!
We're already working on it! Should be out within a month or two.
Hey john does grinding the flats effect your opening? I assume not because you have that pocket milled out. I was wondering because I want to get a consistent thickness on my blades so that they get the perfect pivot opening friction. I really need a digital caliper.
Someone on the spyderco forums modded his manix with a ceramic bearing in the BBL. He used the white one though. There's some good info in that thread.
great stuff...
Awesome Dora the Explorer bandaid.
I have a GoPro and they have their place (I haven't figured out how to use mine yet) but I will agree that they are capable of fine quality, I don't think any attributes show through when they are not stationary though. As much as wearing one sounds cool and does document, I think the quality standards it lowers your footage to is not worth it. They do shoot fabulous from a fixed point such as how John mentioned mounting it to a stand, I highly recommend mounting it. Your settings are good. :)
Shhh, that's the next knife! Think - fixed blade Norseman... ish
Hi Erik and John,
I have heard it said many times before not specifically on your knives, when there is a problem, the 'computer' is at fault. That to me is a cop-out, because you have shown it was never the PC that was at fault, in the other cases, and let me make this clear, never with reference to your knives, the computer is why your knives are what they are. The only thing that is not down to a PC tooled Machine is the Sharpening by Erik. Great stuff guys.
I know you have lots of fans!
Looking forward to replacing my 440c detents with some recently ordered ceramic detent balls. I wonder why knifemakers are still choosing steel.
Im lovin it.
Are ceramic detent balls more durable than steel detent balls? And now that you'll be using ceramic detent balls will that change the price of the knives? Would consider ceramic blades? Ok, enough questions.
The video was great, please don't think I am judging content. I only meant the above from the video's technical aspects. It looked like a bad skate video. I would hate to see your quality start slipping at this point. Please keep up the great work and good luck with your 2 week window. Great idea bringing blades to the show!
I gotta build another one too, got rid of my last one and now I find myself wishing I still had it. :(
*fingers crossed* Please let one of those be mine......
Papa Grimsmo is fired as video guy. We needed a close up of chicken cutting not fuzzy stuff!
guess i'll never get tired of watching you guys:D
I like the pitting btw:) guess a matte knife would be cool as well:)
one question: would you be able to make a blade without those "stairs"?
looking forward to your next knifedesign!:)
Any tips on how we can utilize the GoPro and still get some great shots? It has 5 different video settings that change the quality and video too. The camera was set to 16:9 HD widescreen.
We've just had the thing lying around for a while and havent used it to make skate videos in a while :-)
you guys should design and make some awesome lanyard bead in titanium.
I am loving the Norseman. Keep up the good work. Seems hard on your bits to cnc all of the blades. Wouldint it be better to grind on a jig. Beside the awesome look, why have you chosen this method?
Hey John, do you find that the ceramic detents score the blades on the RWL? Thanks.
John, dig the knives and the videos. Question, while I understand your support for Tormach but in watching it is apparent you have out grown the 1100. That being said, would you have opted for a bigger machine? Second what software are you designing in?
Aye i later noticed lol, only made the comment when you just started talking about the disc sander
Do what Todd Begg does, use a magnet to hold the blade while you grind it.
btw how you learn to do stuff with solidwork?
looks like the pivit screws are a real pain in the a##.. Isnt there a way you could devise a collete[Bad Spelling] system or suvio{bad sp.] to hold them possibly in a repetable position? {as i understand a "suvio" is used for fireing odd shaped objects from a cannon{Mythbusters chicken through a airplain windshield episode}} the reason im thinking of this is because your gripping the head of the pivit screw} Keep up the great vids.
was it cut properly atleast lol. i love knife making tuesday
Couldn't you use an aluminium plate for the disc sander and hold the blade with a neodymium magnet
Do you use steel or ceramic for your bearings now?
Ditto !
linkin park in the back round nice u herd the new album
I assume you've seen Fellhoelter's UberGrinder? I wanna build something like that. Lots of youtube vids and USN posts about it, it's amazing.
Trial and error. LOTS.
No worries :)
I'm getting a Mini Norseman if it isn't too mini!
Wow, Eric looks 20 years younger without facial hair.
Any plans on opening up a company with own staff and all the machines you need in one place?
I think you know this by know, but instead of making it to contruct geo. just use the 'trim' tool :)
All done in 2 seconds ;)
I'm curious about your profits, not that you would disclose that.
I haven't heard the new one yet, their albums seem to have just gotten worse over time in my mind. But i havent given the later albums much chance, i just always have hybrid theory and meteora and love them.
Eventually you guys should make fixed blades maybe neck knives
I know! I'm about the same, not sure why he shaved. Fool.
Alright, build one...work out all the kinks and then build me one? deal? deal. ;D How is the second batch of blades workin' out brother? Will you be ready for the gathering?
how much for number 16
Please, make a left-hand model!!!!!!!
Hey guys cou
John & Eric please don't take offense, the GoPro clips are terrible. Speaking strictly from an A/V technical standpoint these clips have severely brought down the quality. Frames were dropped, it has focus issues, it's depth of field is too shallow and it is far too wide. I love your every video and these scenes just made it look way too amateurish. Your quality, as I told you before, has always been stellar. Please don't damage your quality with that thing if you have another camera available.
Thanks for the feedback! No offense taken, I can see that the gopro quality isn't as good (especially when the lighting sucks), but I thought I'd throw them in anyways. The feedback is good. I'm astonished you didn't mention the horrible out of focus food clip, my dad shot that with his dslr on manual focus, and must not have been wearing his glasses haha. I almost didn't put that in. I like how we can mount the gopro on moving machine parts, just gotta make a stand for my other camera.